Connecting, disconnecting by phoneI finally committed to memory the name of the nice lady who takes my mail at the post office. It’s Deena. Deena decorated her Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. Her home is the holiday gathering place for both her and her husband’s parents. Her mother is from Ireland and goes back home some, though not as much as she did when she was younger. Deena has traveled to Ireland a number of times, too. She has cousins there. Amazing what you can learn w...

Making smart choices while we still canThe 2014 Pope County budget, totaling some $8.8 million, was approved by a vote of 9-4 on Dec. 10. That is about $640,000 more, or an 8 percent increase, in appropriated funds from 2013 to 2014, not including things that will be approved at a later date from the General fund. I cast a no vote for the budget for three basic reasons. The court decided to use Surplus Investment money (the rainy day fund) to prop up the shortfall in available reve...

Aromatic, eco-friendly cheer takes patienceIt’s too late. There’s no time to finish a popcorn and cranberry garland now. Oh sure, you could start one. But it wouldn’t be ready to drape along the boughs of this year’s tree before Valentine’s Day, let alone Christmas. I began mine over a week ago and am finding it is taking more time than birthing a baby. At this point, I’m simply aiming for a garland long enough to dangle across the mantel for New Year’s. Of course, who would have antic...

The new rules of economic developmentWhen it comes to economic development, the old rules don’t apply. The communities that understand the new rules are the ones that will get the jobs. The old rules operated sort of like this. Step one: Find a flat piece of ground. Step two: Use local resources and government grants to run pipes to that ground and maybe build a 50,000-square-foot empty building. Step three: Wait for the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, or whatever it wa...

Letter to the editor (Dec. 20, 2013)Veterans' Home Commission errs Referencing your write-up of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs conducted on Dec. 17, the cited Committee Meeting was a total injustice to the 20 cities that submitted proposals to have the honor of being the location for the new Veterans’ Home. The RFI which we all received as the foundation for input clearly stated, “Please note the previously announced requirement that the Veterans Home be within two ...

Living positive in a negative worldFor the past several months, before I get out of bed in the morning usually around 4 a.m., it has become my custom to say out loud, “Lord, you are so good to me.” This attitude of gratitude helps me start my day on a positive note. I also find something else that helps: When someone asks me how I am doing is to respond by saying, “Fantastic.” So far no one has asked me to explain what I mean. To be honest, most people except for family members...

Security versus privacyThis week, a guard insisted on looking into my handbag as I entered Radio City Music Hall to see the Christmas Spectacular. He had absolutely no reason to suspect me or the hundreds of other patrons whose bags he similarly inspected of carrying guns or explosives. But none of us objected to the incursion. Speaking for myself, I didn’t want to get blown up by a terrorist or other psychopath bent on mayhem in this iconic and people-packed venue....

Time to reform health care reformHere’s how health care reform should have worked. Republicans, Democrats and just about everyone else should have agreed on the old system’s strengths and weaknesses. On the plus side, modern medicine has added to quality and length of life in sometimes amazing ways. Moreover, it has generally been made available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, if the circumstances are serious enough. However, the system has cost too much and ...

Budget deal puts politics over policyThe four Republican congressmen from Arkansas split evenly last week on a budget deal that will fund the government until 2015 and at least prevent another government shutdown. The bipartisan deal is yet another example of Washington placing short-term politics ahead of getting serious about dealing with our growing national debt. “I am no fan of this agreement, but I reluctantly supported it because it is better than a government shutdown,” w...

Darr should resign after misuse of fundsA state legislative committee reacted with a collective yawn last week when presented with two audits showing incompetent record-keeping by employees of the taxpayers. One of those was a 48-page investigative report prepared for the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee after a review of policies, procedures and transactions in the Division of University Advancement at the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. The committee accepted the report a...

Globally, U.S. students earn a CScores from one of the world’s most important tests have been announced, and American students, as they have in the past, have earned a C. Administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the PISA exam tested 510,000 15- and 16-year-olds in math, reading and science. Sixty-two countries along with the Chinese cities of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macao participated. Among the 65 tested entities, the United States r...

Cracking pecansUp until just a few days before the recent ice storm, pecan trees were still producing, and it was a common sight throughout the region to see people stooped over in their yards, kicking leaves, and scouring the ground for fallen fruit. Houses throughout the area displayed signs such as “pecans for sale” or “we crack pecans.” You might have to fight with the squirrels to get a good harvest, but even just a few are a real treat. Native to the s...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Letter to the editor (Dec. 15, 2013)WWII Closure Yesterday my friend and fellow pilot (Philip Cowger) told me that his dad’s B-24 Liberator from WWII had been found. His dad, John “Flip” Cowger was my friend. This is the story Flip told me a few years ago. He did not volunteer his story, I had to ask. On June 21, 1944, Flip was piloting his B-24 at 24,000 over Nazi Germany. He was 21 years old and it was his 21st mission. Flip was not a tall man and he had unbuckled this seat be...

Putting off hard choices, againRepublicans and Democrats fight about a lot of things, but one thing they agree about: When in doubt, put off the hard choices. If the $17 trillion national debt wasn’t proof enough of this, then more evidence came in the form of the budget deal worked out between Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and other negotiators this week. Congress was expected to vote on it between the time I write this and the time you are reading it...

Election time for journalists as ’13 ends LITTLE ROCK — It’s election season in Arkansas again — but this time for its journalists. In an annual ritual, the people who leave a newspaper at your doorstep, broadcast news to your living room or drop it onto your tablet will gaze at their navels over the next few days and select the 10 state stories that stood out during 2013. It’s not an easy thing to do. Bad weather often, but not always, rises to the top of the pile. Since virtually ev...

Raising taxes on pastorsMany pastors across the country are paying attention to a federal court case in Wisconsin that could have a big impact on their taxes. Last month, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled that the federal tax law which allows a “minister of the gospel” to receive part of his or her income designated for housing expenses tax-free is unconstitutional. The law has been around for almost as long as the federal income tax. In 1921, Congress passed a...

Santa’s fighter jet escorts raise speculationIt appears the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, has ruffled a few feathers. Since the 1950s, NORAD has tracked Santa during his Christmas Eve journey. According to various media outlets, in addition to providing the animated tracking information, NORAD announced Santa’s sleigh will be escorted through the skies by two fighter jets. Now, I can see how some folks might be upset by the announcement. Considering the current deficit...

Letter to the editor (Dec. 11, 2013)Study the legacy of Obama Sometimes a person with a great sense of fairness and a superior intellect gains the presidential office of a nation. And when that person is obsessed with the idea that he knows better than do the people not only what they need but also what they want, what a legacy he can carve out for himself. In the case of our president, his knowledge is so profound that it exceeds that of the founding fathers. He knows better th...

New database shows rapid growth of football coaches’ salariesWhen Gus Malzahn bolted from Arkansas State University, which had given him his first head coaching job, about this time last year, he nearly tripled his $850,000 salary, generous by the standards of most Arkansans who work for a living. One could hardly blame him, though; Auburn University offered a 5-year deal worth about $2.3 million annually. That move made a lot of ASU football fans angry. But college football has become a big business, e...

Senate candidates hold back attacksLITTLE ROCK — The bare-knuckle brawl that had been the Arkansas U.S. Senate race has entered its softer season, with both candidates toning down the rhetoric amid the holidays. In the past two weeks, we’ve learned that Tom Cotton’s mama loves her boy and that Mark Pryor loves Jesus. Cotton loves Jesus, too, but his current ad campaign doesn’t come out and say so directly. Cotton, a Republican congressman from Dardanelle, decided last summer to...